Is Dexter Season 7 and 8 Overkill for Fans? Critics Say Yes

The real story isn’t that Dexter was renewed for two more seasons: it’s that fans and critics aren’t entirely happy about it.

Dexter season 6 has been doing excellent with its’ ratings on Showtime, so the network has ordered two more seasons of the Emmy-nominated show. Normally, renewals are heralded as nothing but great news (unless the show in question is awful) but some fans and critics of Dexter feel it might be overkill.

@TheTVShowGirl – Maggie Furlong: Is the goal of renewing Dexter for 2 more seasons to actually kill the entire audience? (AOL TV)

@sepinwall – Alan Sepinwall – Don’t disagree at all. RT @brentkoepp: Terrible news. Dexter needs to end next season, it’s severely hobbling on one foot at this point. (HitFix)

@timcarvell – Tim Carvell – “Dexter” has been renewed for two more seasons, will be renamed “Law & Order: World’s Most Oblivious Police Department Unit”.

Dexter and his son look cute, huh?

I have been enjoying Dexter season 6 a lot (have you read my Dexter reviews? hint hint) but I think only one more season after this would have been right. There’s only so many stories they can do without it feeling strained. Deb finding out about Dexter is an inevitability. And Dexter with Harrison is bound to be a depressing storyline as the kid grows up, right?

So, I put it to the fans. Comment and let us know – are you excited about this news or not? Speak out, because Showtime is listening!

Press Release about Dexter Season 7 and Dexter Season 8

SHOWTIME has ordered two more seasons of its award-winning, top-rated drama series DEXTER, starring Golden Globe® award-winning actor Michael C. Hall, it was announced today by David Nevins, President of Entertainment, Showtime Networks Inc. On the heels of Hall and SHOWTIME closing a new, two season deal for Hall to return to the series, production will begin on season seven in 2012 in Los Angeles. Seasons seven and eight will consist of 12 episodes each.

Billy Brown as Mike Anderson and Jennifer Carpenter as Debora Morgan (Season 6, episode 3) - Photo: Randy Tepper/Showtime

The Emmy®-nominated DEXTER opened its sixth season in October and continues to earn impressive ratings, most recently delivering its fifth consecutive week of growth. Season-to-date, the series is averaging 5.12 million weekly viewers on all platforms (including On Demand, replays and DVR), making it the highest rated season yet. Season six of DEXTER is executive produced by John Goldwyn, Sara Colleton, Scott Buck, Manny Coto and Michael C. Hall.

“DEXTER’s enormous success is a real tribute to the great achievements of its cast, producers, and the powerhouse performance of Michael C. Hall,” said Nevins. “The series is bigger than it’s ever been in its sixth season, both in terms of audience and its impact on the cultural landscape. Together with Michael, the creative team on the show has a very clear sense of where they intend to take the show over the next two seasons and, as a huge fan, I’m excited to watch the story of Dexter Morgan play out.”

Michael C. Hall added, “On behalf of the entire DEXTER family, we relish the invitation to delve ever deeper into Dexter’s world.”